Piaget's Theory of Development

trained as biologist -> knowledge as adaptation

058.3 "He {Piaget} came to understand that many actions
of living creatures are adaptations to their environments and
that these actions help creatures organize their environments
(Wadsworth, 1971, p. 9).

"control" instead of "organize" their
environments

genetic epistemology

children have qualitatively different perceptions and abililties
than adults, not just "less"

importance of interaction with physical environment

Piaget's four stages of cognitive development

1. sensorimotor intelligence (0 to 2 years)

manipulation of physical environment

2. preoperational thought (2 to 7 years)

begins to think conceptually

can solve physical problems

3. concrete operations (7 to 11 years)

can think logically in dealing with physical problems

4. formal operations (11 to 15 years)

can think abstractly

can develop and test mental hypotheses

can reason and think logically

Schema = "a concept, mental category,
or cognitive structure" (p. 58)

Processes of development

assimilation: sees butterfly, says "bird" (uses old, known
word for a new concept)

accommodation: sees butterfly, says "bird"
first but then later "butterly"

equilibrium: schemata are consistent with each other

child says "bird" when adult says "bird"

disequilibrium: schemata are not consistent

child says "bird" but adult says "butterfly"

conservation of clay or water

->Small-Group Discussions: four to six
students

Discuss why it is warmer in the summer than in the winter.

Watch for examples of disequilibrium, assimilation and
accomodation both within yourself and among your group members.

Did anyone develop cognitively as a result of this discussion?
How and why?

Show "Harvard Grad" videotape segment for their explanations of same
phenomenon

why do these misperceptions exist (do someone teach them this stuff?)

Selection Theory Critique of Piaget

Questions & problems (How)

What general mechanism is used for assimilation and accomodation?

How does child know what when something can be assimilated
into a current schema, or when a schema must be accomodated (changed)
or new one created?

More generally, how can a child's knowledge and skills increase
(can one ever learn anything really new?)

Meno dilemma from Socrates

Novel, unpredictable entities can result the combination of other
entities

human desires/preferences as adaptations for survival and
reproduction

Recognizes that organisms do not react to their environments
(the "behavioral illusion"), instead they control
their environments

Recognizes how the development of new skills and knowledge
is an active, creative, evolutionary process that leads
to new adaptations to the environment (physical and social) in
the form of useful skills, knowledge, and preferences

Explains what is universal and what is culture-specific
in development

skills, knowledge and preferences for meeting these needs
depends on opportunities provided by the physical and social
environment

Universal: need for carbohydrates, protein and fat

Particular: diet

rice in Asia

corn in Latin America

sorghum in Africa

wheat in North America

seal and whale meat in Arctic

Weaknesses

not accepted by mainstream psychologists and educators

ignorance or rejection of role of biological evolution in
human behavior, skills and preferences

ignorance of rejection of the notion of within-organisms
variation and selection to account for human development and
learning

ignorance or rejection of idea that humans use behavior to
control their perceptions (environments); acceptance of "behavioral
illusion" that perceptions (stimuli, environment) cause
behavior (responses)